FTII Pune Likely to Launch New Courses

Pune: The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), a premier film and television training institute of the country, is likely to launch new courses. As per sources, the new courses which are likely to be launched will be on film curation and film preservation. The courses are taught abroad but are not yet prevalent in India. In addition to that, the institute will also make some changes in its existing regular and long-term courses.

The existing courses of the institute include a one-year postgraduate certificate course in feature film screenplay writing, two-year postgraduate diploma in acting and two-year postgraduate diploma in art direction and production design. According to DJ Narain, Director, FTII, the main reason behind looking for a change is to offer students an opportunity for holistic learning.

Narain added that the Institute wants to introduce an integrated training module for all courses. As such, a student of cinematography will have knowledge about editing; a student of sound will also have knowledge about cinematography and so on. In addition to that, the institute is also planning to extend the duration of the existing courses to three years.

At present, courses like acting, art direction and production design are of two-year duration, whereas feature film screenplay writing is of one-year. Explaining about the duration, he said that with a common duration for all courses, the institute is looking at introducing uniformity.

Reasoning the same, he added that with this, students will gain the aesthetic and philosophical know-how about the art of film-making and also gain a well-rounded approach. Narain further explained that the institute not only wants to create good professionals but those who will understand the various aspects and nuances of cinema and film-making.

Also from the academic year 2013, courses will have more international exchange programmes and workshops to put the institute on the global map and expose students to international standards of film-making, which will help broaden their horizons.

Explaining the necessity of this change, Narain said that with rapid changes in technology, the medium is undergoing a metamorphosis. Today, everything is moving towards digitalization. Hence, there is an immediate need for re-orientation and training. The Institute is also looking at all the significant aspects that need change.